band Standards-Based Grading in Band
Resolving to Focus on Learning Instead of Grades Stacy Juhl, Guest Writer
“Standards-based grading” is a hot top- ic in Wisconsin edu- cation discussions recently, and for good reason – a sim- ple Google search “standards-based grading Wisconsin” returns dozens of
hits from school districts statewide that have adopted or are in the process of adopting this method of reporting grades. And as is usually the case, in-service workshops and newsletter articles don’t include examples for band directors. So what exactly is standards-based grading and how can it work for us?
For the last year, I have served on my school’s Grading and Assessment Com- mittee. We are leading our fellow teachers in creating schoolwide grading guidelines based on Ken O’Connor’s book 15 Fixes for Broken Grades as well as piloting standards-based grading in our classes. I jumped at the chance to be on this commit- tee because I was thoroughly disenchanted with playing what I called The Grades Game: “Mrs. Juhl, how many points do I need to get an A in band?” or “If I learn one more scale, what will my grade be then?” or “If my daughter misses the con- cert, will she still have enough points to pass?” I was really tired of talking about points and averages with parents and stu- dents instead of discussing actual learning and the mastery of performance skills.
In a January 2016 blog post, Dr. Wendy Barden, a long-time public school music educator and administrator in Osseo, Min- nesota, describes the purpose of standards- based grading as a way 1) to compare student achievement to established levels of proficiency and 2) to communicate bet- ter and more accurate information about achievement to students and parents. In
16
her post, she also discusses ways in which those two purposes necessitate that we as educators rethink our traditional grading practices. Using Dr. Barden’s thoughts as a guideline, I will share how the band directors in my school district have imple- mented a new grading practice. I hope that what we’ve learned along the way will benefit others.
EVERYTHING is Based on Standards You cannot have standards-based grading without also having a standards-based cur- riculum and standards-based instruction. In my district, that means we’ve spent the last four years revising our curriculum and assessments. We started out by identifying which standards were most essential and then writing a comprehensive scope and sequence for fifth through eighth grade band – i.e., writing down precisely which key signatures, time signatures, rhythms, vocabulary terms, compositional skills, etc. would be taught and assessed at each grade level. Next, assessments were writ- ten collaboratively, reflecting what stu- dents should have mastered based on the scope and sequence. Instruction based on our scope and sequence has necessitated heavily supplementing the method book as well as a very thoughtful selection of literature for each concert. A thorough overhaul of our music library database means we can now search specifically for pieces written in 6/8 time, pieces includ- ing the terms accelerando and ritardando, pieces with groups of four sixteenth notes, etc. so that every piece of literature we study supports our scope and sequence.
Achievement is NOT Reported as an Overall Grade Dr. Barden likens each standard to a bucket and suggests that your gradebook be organized so that your assignments are grouped based on to which bucket
each one belongs. For example, instead of categorizing your gradebook by type of assignment such as playing tests or written exams you instead categorize it by standard such as creates, performs and responds. Ideally, you should be able to report the student’s level of performance for each bucket instead of reporting one overall grade. Fortunately, many com- puter gradebook options are now friendly to standards-based grading. And even if your school mandates that you report just a single letter grade, you can still attach an addendum that gives parents more detailed information about student achievement. For those who must convert to a letter grade, Robert Marzano and Tammy Hafle- bower provide a research-based approach in their article “Grades that Show What Students Know.”
Responsibility, Effort and Behavior In standards-based grading, academic achievement is based solely on academic performance. While still crucial to a student’s success in school and in life, responsibility, effort and behavior are NOT a part of academic grades. Instead, they are reported separately. In my district, our middle school faculty spent months creating a second report card that we titled our “Life Skills Report Card.” This report allows teachers to score and report aca- demic behaviors such as commitment to learning, organization, work completion/ timeliness and respect while still keeping that information separate from academic performance.
Formative and Summative Assessments A summative assessment is an assessment of learning while a formative assessment is an assessment for learning. Formative assessments are given in the middle of instruction when there is still time for
January 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
